Redline

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Part 2

Cars were in her blood. Growing up, Cal had taught her as much about mechanics as a single father raising a little girl could. He'd always said that a woman who could fix a car was a woman who could take care of herself—and he'd always wanted Mikaela to be able to do just that. Almost all of her best childhood memories involved cars in some way—after all, Cal loved them, and with time she grew to love them, too.

The first time she'd ever fallen in love, she used to say that it was with the mint '65 SS Camaro fastback that one of their neighbors had procured by some (most likely undesirable) means. There was something about the exhilarating rumble of the supercharged big-block under that cherry-red Chevy hood that made her knees shake even more than they had back when good old Trent had first flashed her his dazzling smile back in sixth grade.

She'd been so naïve back then, so afraid that her peers would learn the truth about her home life and condemn her. For years she'd felt like that. It wasn't until she met Sam and the Autobots that things had begun to change a little bit. It was hard to feel like a freak because you knew too much about cars when it was the cars themselves who were your best friends.

But it had been that good old cherry-red Camaro that had been on her mind when Sam had saved her from an extremely long walk home from the lake with Trent that fateful afternoon—Bee had reminded her of how sexy she used to find that car, and how much she'd longed to drive it. It was embarrassing to admit that she'd found Bee a little bit sexy too, at first, now that she knew what Bee was—but she would be lying to herself if she tried to deny that she'd felt kind of turned on when she'd opened his hood.

He was powerful, and raw, mechanical power was dead sexy.

But now that she was aware that he was actually a giant robot? Not so much. And not for the typical reasons another girl may have mentioned for being weirded out about it, like him being an alien and all—but instead, it was because she had the utmost respect for Bee. That didn't stop Sam and her from making out on top of him once or twice, though. Sam had pinned her down against the hood, and she still didn't know if he'd pressed the small of her back right into the vibration and warmth on purpose or not—it didn't matter. The point of it was that it did things to her when he did that, and she liked it. She liked it a lot.

The thought of it was making her feel a little warm, so she cracked the window and relished the feeling of the night air blowing on her face as they drove together. Her loneliness had mostly dissipated now that she was with Bee. Bee turned right onto Monroe Street, heading further into the financial district of the city where all of the twenty-four-hour fast food joints were located—but underneath it all, she still did miss Sam. He hadn't texted her back—she supposed he was already asleep—and he wasn't going to be home until late Sunday night, she was sure. That would mean no sleepovers anytime soon, not until her birthday next Saturday at the earliest.

And speaking of her birthday, with a pang she remembered that Sam hadn't even mentioned it to her yet or asked her what she'd wanted.

"Are you okay, kiddo? You're real quiet tonight," Bumblebee intruded into her thoughts, forgoing the usual use of radio clips in an effort to sound more serious. It was always so weird to hear him use his actual voice—Optimus had fixed his vocal processor a while ago, but the bot had become so used to using radio recordings that it was hard for him to break the habit sometimes. That, and Mikaela had a distinct feeling that Bumblebee had a little too much fun with them.

"Mmm," murmured Mikaela. "I'm okay. Just thinking."

"'bout what?"

"Sam. I was just wondering about something…" she paused, wondering how much of what she was thinking she should say to Bee. "Did he—do you know if he remembers that it's my birthday next Saturday?"

It was a mark of how distant Sam and hers relationship had already become that she even had to ask him that question. Too late, however, Mikaela realized that Bee probably wouldn't know—he had said that he had something really important planned with the Autobots on that weekend, so Sam was going to be without a vehicle and if he had planned anything yet, he probably would not have told Bee for that reason.

Bee played a celebratory recorded chorus of 'Happy Birthday' which ended in applause and cheers before he answered. "Oh, yes," he told her, "But it's a surprise!"

Mikaela's head snapped down to stare at the stereo so fast that it hurt. "Whadd'ya mean it's a surprise, Bee?" she demanded. "Sam hasn't seriously—I totally thought he'd just forgot—"

"Sam, forget about you?" Bee laughed. "Nah…"

"Well, he's been so busy, lately," she mumbled, staring at the floorboards.

"Wait…" said the Camaro in disbelief. "You actually did think he forgot about you, didn't cha!"

Mikaela sniffed. "Well, yeah," she said. "He…"

She hesitated. Bee and her were close, it was perfectly true—but Mikaela really wasn't the sort of person to go around spilling the beans about her internal feelings and personal life. Even with Sam, it had been a hurdle they'd had to find a way to overcome, more or less—the sinking feeling in her chest sharpened when she thought about it.

She felt guilty—here she was, whining internally about how Sam was away all weekend and that he'd probably forgotten about her birthday, meanwhile for one, she knew deep down that it was necessary for him to go away this weekend to prepare for college, and two, he actually hadn't forgotten about her birthday. Not according to Bee, at least.

Mikaela was saved from finishing the rest of her sentence by the gentle bump of the Camaro's suspension bouncing over the twenty-four-hour Taco Bell drive-thru's parking lot entrance. There was one car in line ahead of them, so Mikaela took the opportunity to look at the menu, and decided that she would have a Number One combo with a Coke. Fast food was not usually her thing—Mikaela liked to eat as healthy as she could—but there was something to be said for late-night trips to fast food joints. They had a certain aesthetic, and the city around them was so beautiful by night.

Mikaela received her food and Bee parked. The familiar skyline of skyscrapers and office buildings overhead was dotted with jewel-bright, mirror-glass windows, each reaching right up to meet the twinkling stars. Down in the streets was a neon kaleidoscope of epileptically-blinking colors, and many pub-goers and late-night wanderers navigated dirty sidewalks beneath these displays, visible as only shifting shapes of black with clouds of smoke wafting over their heads as they chattered and laughed drunkenly. Over the sound of their voices, bass thumped through the vacant alleyways from underground bars. And the smell—the smell of the city, of car exhaust and cooling asphalt, concrete that had baked all day in the sun was only partially overwhelmed by steaming hot, late-night grub, coming from everything greasy and deep-fried but oh-so good.

Mikaela had watched this display in silence while she ate her burrito. It was satisfyingly fabulous-tasting.

It wasn't until she'd finished that her mind drifted back to Sam. She took a long, thoughtful sip of Coke before addressing Bee.

"Can I tell you something secret?" she asked the Camaro.

"Anything, m'lady," he replied with a recording that she'd recognized but could not think from where.

Mikaela weighed each word carefully as she spoke. "Sam and I have never told each other 'I love you'."

Bee was silent for a minute Mikaela immediately regretted saying this, thinking she'd made things awkward again. Before he answered her, he turned his engine over, and she felt the sudden thrum of power through the seat.

"Sam does love you," Bumblebee said, uncharacteristically quiet and serious.

The feeling of guilt increased in Mikaela's stomach. She knew that the young Autobot was not one for these types of conversations. It was a mark of how much their friendship had grown over the past years that Bee was not joking around and being silly—he could tell that his friend was hurting, and as a result, he was remarkably subdued.

"I'm sorry, Bee, I shouldn't have said anything. I didn't—"

"It's okay," said Bee sadly as they pulled out of the parking lot and started off toward Mikaela's house. "Don't worry about it."

Mikaela bit her lip.

The rearview mirror readjusted of its own accord. "Really!" Bee insisted.

Most of the ride home passed in silence—Bee played a couple of upbeat songs he knew that she liked, and Mikaela hummed along. It was getting to be so late that they'd hardly passed anyone on the roads. The outskirts of the city could be like a ghost town at night, even on the weekends.

As they passed by a block from Mike's, Mikaela glanced down a darkened side-street that ended in the Cycle Shop's parking lot to see if Cal was still there—but the shop's windows looked dank and dark in the distance and the parking lot was empty. They rounded the corner to where the alleyway was where Bee had scared her earlier, and through the chain-link fence Mikaela caught the bright glow of the familiar truck stop. Almost all of its bays were full with semis decked out in colorful lights, their drivers valiantly pumping diesel in the dead of night. It was the only proof in the tiny neighborhood that the outside world was still alive.

"You know, Bee," Mikaela said thoughtfully as she watched the truckers, and Bee automatically turned down the music to listen to her, "I used to think it might be kind of cool to drive truck one day."

Bumblebee chuckled. "Don't let Prime hear you say that."

Mikaela scoffed and laughed a little herself. "No, really, Bee. I mean, it's kind of—you'd get paid to drive, and all, and I've always really liked driving. Some of the times I've felt the most at home was behind the wheel," she explained.

And plus, she thought to herself, although she'd never dare to say something like this aloud to Bee, They're some of the biggest beasts on the road… they were intriguing, but she didn't know much about them as Cal's interest in trucks did not really go past your typical pick-up.

"Well, maybe you should learn," suggested Bumblebee.

Mikaela sighed and leaned back into the seat. "I don't know, Bee," she said sadly. "Things are just so crazy right now. I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow, let alone in the future. Two years ago I had no idea that you even existed, Bee. So much has changed since then and I just haven't got time to even think about doing something like that anymore, you know? Plus, Cal needs me."

"I guess," said the Autobot thoughtfully before shuffling his radio onto a fairly jazzy, upbeat song that Mikaela knew all the lyrics to. She couldn't help but sing aloud.

"'Cause the world might do me in
It's all right 'cause I'm with friends
I guess I'm givin' up again
It doesn't matter, oooh—
Had me feelin' like a ghost
And that's what I hate the most
Guess I'm givin' up again
This time, this time I might just disappear…"

The song was still playing as they pulled into Mikaela's driveway. No lights were on, so she assumed that Cal must already be in bed. "Thanks for the ride and the food, Bee," she said with a half-hearted grin, squeezing the Camaro's steering wheel once in goodbye as Bee parked and shut off his headlights so that they didn't shine into Cal's bedroom window and shut off the music.

"No problem." Bee unbuckled her seat belt for her. Mikaela unlocked the driver's door and opened it, but before she could climb out, Bumblebee had stopped her. "Hold on one second..."

She waited. She felt the Camaro wobble a little on his chassis, although he was squirming uncomfortably. She knew Bee, and unless her imagination was getting the better of her due to lack of sleep (which was possible, she thought as she yawned deeply, suddenly exhausted), her friend was going through some kind of internal battle about something unknown.

"About that birthday surprise Sam has for you…"

Mikaela froze. She knew that, although Bee was an extremely loyal friend, he sometimes had a hard time keeping secrets that he was really excited about. He'd never tell anything that really mattered, but stuff that he found insignificant in the grand scheme of things, and stuff that he knew everyone would benefit from if they knew, was what he had the most trouble with. He was a little bit too carefree sometimes, but he always had the best intentions. He just lacked the self-control not to be a little bit of an instigator.

Yet again, the little Camaro had found himself in a position where he just couldn't control himself. His best human friend had told him an important, cool thing he was going to do for his girlfriend's birthday, and he couldn't help wanting to tell her—Sam wasn't in town, so there was nobody else around to cheer said sad girlfriend up, was there?

"He's gonna take you to Vegas," Bee squirmed.

Mikaela's mouth opened of its own accord. Sam hated Las Vegas. Why did he want to take her somewhere he hated?

"And that's not all," said Bee, committed to telling the whole thing, now. "He's going to rent you a car…"

"A car?" Mikaela frowned. "But I've already got—"

"I know. Not just any car, Mickey," he said, using the affectionate nickname for her that he only very rarely used. "He's gonna rent you your dream car..."

Mikaela was shocked. "Not the Camaro?" she gasped.

"Is it a Camaro?" She could almost feel the robot grinning smugly at her. "Damn, I didn't know you had a thing for us..."

"What?" Mikaela choked, laughing. "I—I don't have a—wait a sec, are you flirting with me, you goddamned weird-ass robot?"

She punched the top of the dash playfully, and Bumblebee apologized. "Sorry," he said. "I'm just expressing my… appreciation… that Sam found himself a girl that likes 'em. Sam didn't say what make and model when he told me, just that it was a red manual shifter that could easily drive just about as fast as I could. Yeah, right!"

Mikaela snorted in spite of herself. "Hang on," she said seriously, as part of what Bee had just told her sunk in. "Sam can't drive a stick."

"Yup. You're going to have to drive."

She stared at the radio. "Shit," she muttered, more to herself than anything.

"What's wrong?"

"Uh, nothing." Her face was burning as she tried to avoid Bee's eyes—problem was, she wasn't exactly sure where they were located in his vehicle form.

The truth was that Mikaela had not driven a standard in a very long time. In fact, the last time she had driven standard had been so long ago that she had not done it legally—back when her father still used to steal cars, he'd taught her to drive without her license in case she'd ever needed to take over for him. But most cars they'd ended up boosting had been automatics, and so had all of the vehicles Mikaela had owned so far—while Cal had grown up in an era where manuals were popular, it was much harder to come across a standard transmission in the millennium. Automatics were just in higher demand because they were easier to drive, and she wasn't even sure if she could run a standard anymore, it had been so long.

"What's the matter?" Bee asked again, and she knew that she couldn't lie to him. He'd been honest with her, after all. "'Con got your tongue? Come on, you can tell me!"

"Okay, okay, fine," said Mikaela uncomfortably. "It's just that, uh, it's been an awful long time since I've driven standard."

"So?"

"So, I'm probably shit. I don't think I remember at all actually, and that is so embarrassing, coming from me."

"Hmm," said Bumblebee thoughtfully.

"I wish that there was some way for me to practice," she sighed, falling back into the seat. "The last thing I need right now is for Sam to rent me this beautiful car, only for me to have to tell him that I suck at driving stick. It would probably crush him."

Both of them sat in silence for a minute before Mikaela stifled a huge yawn.

"You should go inside and sleep," said Bee. "But, huh. Tomorrow's Saturday, right?—do ya know if you've got any plans, yet?"

"Not really." She had been thinking of heading over to the air-conditioned mall for a little shopping with some girlfriends she hadn't hung out with all week, but she'd only decided to do it because she had nothing better to do—it was usually something she did enjoy a lot, but with Sam gone, the prospect didn't really make her feel all that excited. On the contrary, thinking about it was starting to make her feel empty and lonely again. "Why—did you have something in mind, Bee?"

"Kind of," he answered. "I have to go with the other 'bots back to NEST. Do you want'a tag along?"

Mikaela smiled at the thought of visiting the Autobot's main home again. She had been on base only once or twice since Mission City had happened—always with both Bee and Sam, and usually there hadn't been time to have a look around, or anything. She was a civilian, after all, and would not have even been granted access to base if it hadn't been for Bee—and as such, strict security measures applied to her.

She didn't mind, though. It was kind of cool, just to be allowed to be on site at one of the most secret and important military institution currently in the entire country. Visiting NEST was never boring, that was for sure.

"All right!" Mikaela answered eagerly. "That sounds sweet, Bee, I'd love to!"

And so it was decided. The two set a time for her to be picked up, said a happy 'good night, see you in the morning' to each other, and Mikaela climbed smoothly out of the Camaro. She was still smiling as she walked up the short pathway that led to the front door, and stopped on the doorstep to rummage in her purse for her keys. She heard the sound of Bee's engine turning over as she found them, and she opened the door, spinning around just in time to see the shiny vehicle pulling out of her driveway. She waved enthusiastically.

The Camaro flashed his highbeams once in farewell before turning up the street, undoubtedly heading back to Sam's empty driveway to sleep. Mikaela watched him go until he was out of sight, and yawned again. The door closed quietly behind her and she paused for a moment, leaning against it, listening to the pleasant silence of the house, thinking…

She still missed Sam, and she was still nervous about what the future had in store for their relationship, but… something inside of her felt a little less heavy than it had a couple of hours ago—a little better, somehow. Maybe tomorrow wasn't going to be such a bad day, after all…